Our Debt Free Story! 

The paper chain idea! BRILLIANT! What a wonderful and visual way to get the whole family involved! Living like paupers even when you are not is right. What I found interesting when I started thinking that way more, is how little I cared about all those little things I used to like to waste my money on - of course back then, I did not see it as waste, I believed it was a necessity - that is just so funny to me now. haha! Thank you SO very much Kevin and Sarah for doing this with us. The more I watch your videos, the more I find it so great how much alike we are, we make the perfect team for paring up in a collaboration like this one. :D

We are debt free and have been for about 15 years. I don't know how to make video's so I won't be doing one of those. We had 149 acres in TN but adopted one of my grand children. Then we did that we decided to move back to MI so she could know the families. My husband and I are both from MI. We bought a house with my sister in law because I have a broken back, and needed help with my daughter. School clothes shopping and things like that. We are now on a very small farm of only 22 acres, but the house is huge 8 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 2 kitchens and 2 living rooms not to mention the rest of the house. Any way I love the fact that there are NO ticks here. LOL We no longer have 150 cattle we are down to 6 cows and a bull. That is plenty for us to have meat and to sell some meat. We have chickens too, and have been wanting to get pigs just can not seem to find them any where. I am going to try your garden that is covered this year and see if I can do some gardening and canning even with a broken back. I hope that works, no weeding would really be a big help to me. Love your video's

One thing I haven’t seen yet from any of the homesteaders I follow is how much it costs them to run their homestead.

I hope this account of how I became debt free will help someone (maybe hundreds of people) to do the same. You don't have to do it my way but you must be willing to sacrifice a little now for a big reward later. Let me say this "if your outgo exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall." Here goes, I dropped out of high school at sixteen - one of the biggest mistakes of my life. I joined the U. S. Navy at seventeen - one of the best things I've ever done but it didn't seem that way at the time. Without a high school diploma the Navy would not send me to any of their schools to learn a trade. My first assignment after boot camp was as a "housekeeper" at a Navy training school where I cleaned the barracks while the ones who finished high school got trained to do technical jobs. After a year of cleaning toilets, mopping and waxing floors for the school students I got transferred to my first ship. There I got to do all the jobs that didn't require any intelligence. This included sweeping and mopping floors (decks in the Navy), painting decks and the sides of the ship, scrubbing the sides of the ship. This continued for my first four years. When my enlistment was up I was told that if I decided to remain in the Navy they would now send me to a training school because I would be considered a career man. I decided to reenlist and went a Navy school that taught me to repair the electronics in Navy aircraft. Little did I know that electronics repair was going to be my life's vocation. I spent twenty years in the Navy and retired at the age of thirty seven. Sounds good right? It wasn't quite as good as it sounded. My retirement check each month was right at $650.00 and that was just enough to make my house payment. There are more expenses than a house payment. Yes, I knew that my wife and I would soon get hungry. We also would like electricity and running water. I had a bright idea, I would get a job (my wife was unable to work because of her health). I got a job where I could use the skills in electronics that the Navy had trained me to do. I got a job with an electronic company that made diagnostic ultrasound as a "field engineer." I'm moving up in the world. Being a field engineer is not like being a real engineer but it would have to do. At the time I got this job, I knew nothing about how to manage money. As time rocked on, I knew there had to be more than working, getting paid and then giving all our money to someone else. I began to listen to motivational programs about finances. I started saving money. Not a lot at first because I didn't have a lot of extra money. I began paying off the things we bought on time. I decided not to buy anything that I didn't need. It's hard to face the fact that there is a big difference between what you need and what you want. After paying off our credit cards and our cars I made a decision not to buy anything if I couldn't pay cash for it. As we paid off things, it gave us more money to save and we did save. The only thing we made payments on at that time was our house and utilities. You may pay off your house but you will always have utilities even if it's just electricity. At age fifty six we decided to retire. I talked to an accountant who specialized if retirement planning and he told us that we would have no problems. We paid off our house and lived on my Navy retirement and the interest on our savings and dividends from the stocks we own. Six years later I started drawing social security and that was icing on the cake. In a nut shell it all boiled down to - 1. Have a plan to be debt free and do it. 2. Use my idea of not buying anything if you can't pay cash. 3. Know the difference between "want" and "need." God is good and life is too. What you do in life is up to you. You have to start from where you are and not where you would like to be. Start TODAY. I hope this helped at least one person. You can do it.

I was very close to being debt free, but life hit hard, got divorced, took care dad till he died unexpectedly and had a major setback. I am still trusting God in this and believing Romans 13:8 that says I owe no man nothing but to love him. Pray for me. I don't think I can Homestead on my own and I want to do it very badly. All things are possible to them that believe!

You are teaching your daughter responsibility by making her pay for her own phone... Good job!!

We started to cut cost by looking in our trash can...We wanted to see what we were throwing away that we were constantly replacing. Paper products were a big one! We replaced paper napkins with cloth napkins I made from worn out sheets and then I took old clothing that I cut into towel to replace paper ones. I took some .25 yard sale finds ,...baskets that I spray painted to cover stains and put on on the counter for napkins so that they are always available. We each have our own napkin ring so we can use the same one all day to save laundry. I had a second basket for my cloth paper towels .when they get to stained they move to the bucket under the sink to use as cleaning rags! We never throw cloth away ,we break down clothes by saving buttons, appliqués ,and zippers. I open all seams so they lay flat and I can better see what parts will work for what. Even little strips and hems I use for rag rugs. Anyway the other paper product was coffee filters, so we found a. super fine mesh reusable coffee filter, then of course we stopped using paper plates and cups and disposable forks and spoons!We took our receipts , (mind you this was in the 1980’s) and found we saved $17.00a month. That was in the neighborhood of $200.00 a year and it was a painless way to cut that cost! And the girls loved learning to embroider our napkins for home ec projects (because we homeschooled our kids) Then we banned snacks that were not homemade, all bread and pasta were homemade ....I confess I have a bread maker that makes 2lb loaves, we found this new in the box at a yard sale for $10.00 ! This was our mini start,and seeing the progress, made it easier to make even bigger changes! Cash on the barrel head was a non negotiable rule, which actually led to wonderful holidays with homemade gifts ,and learning the difference between a want and a need!

We did the paper chain for every book my kids read when they were young--and homeschooled. It was a BLAST and we proudly had it up circling the dining room ceiling!

I drove my 2001 Ford Expedition until last year (2020). When I made a mortgage payment, I always added whatever extra I could afford - every month! These small actions over the course of 15 years allowed me to pay off everything!

There is one thing I would like to add as I listen to this video - again - , and that is, anyone who is contemplating a homesteading lifestyle, should begin to make lists before they jump off. There are many lists but the one I found I didn't do enough of was the absolutely essential "equipment list". Good Equipment. These would be tools that you need to live the life without having to buy them later. A grain mill. A chain saw, battery operated. A solar charger. Hopefully, a Bobcat to make your cleanup, moving around chores easier on your bodies as you age. Etc., etc. So make those lists now, before you bite it off, gather and pay for this stuff before you need it and have to either scramble or go without, which often means jury-rigging projects, and that's never a good idea. You need to be ready.

Great video! This is the first time I have heard someone speak about how they became debt free. I am not going to make a video. Only because I don't know how. But that's okay. But I would like to let you know. That as of yesterday I paid off my last debt on our car. which if i didn't pay off, it wouldn't be until 2020 before it would be paid off. With about $200.00 in interest each year. So it was best for me to keep the $200.00 instead of the bank. I also paid off my $32,000 credit card this year. God has been so good to us. I am also trying to move out of the country, but don't know yet where. I am from Dallas, Texas, so if you can pray for us that would be great. Keep up the great job and thank you for sharing,.

If you can't have debt then you can't have stuff in storage. Debt is about letting go and well, junk is too. Glad you were to give it away, even a little at a time. love, hugs and peace.

Living debt free is such a good feeling of independence.

My debt free story: I was too poor and irresponsible in my youth so that no one ever gave me any credit. Now that I'm older, wiser and make more money, I know not to ask for any. I got lucky.

I'm not a homesteader ... but was attracted to your channel, as I am curious about how you homesteaded in Phoenix. I live in Phoenix ... have been for over 60 years. And I was raised to live on the cheap. When I buy a car, I always buy used, and I still keep it at least 10 years (or until it starts costing more than it is worth to repair) ... but so far, I have made smart enough decisions so 10 years is a minimum. I don't have cable (or any subscriptions), I said eat out once a week ... but the last time I ate out at even a fast food place, was well over a month ago. I am single, 70 years old, and now retired ... but I cook my own meals .... mostly from scratch. I keep the thermostat during the summer, way up, or roof top A/C off completely. Using a window A/C in the one or two rooms I spend most of my time in ... (office / art studio) only when in those rooms. Rest of the house, gets warm, but I will wet a t-shirt and wear it around the rest of the house, and turn on a fan. I have a mortgage, but that is my only bill, and is less than half of my SS. It is my only debt ... and the remaining funds $900 SS and $500 pension are for art supplies, and toys. I liked your idea of the chain, and will pass that onto my son.

we are starting to get debt free it is hard our newest car is an 2006. We are getting our homes ready for sale it will be a total 4 houses to sell, but we have already purchase 42+ acres of farm land with cash. So once we sell off 2 of the houses we will be having 2 homes built on our land. My son in-law already got a deer off of the property to start filling the freezers once on the land I will be gardening and taking care of chickens which my daughter knows how to do but we will have low debt and will be able to raise about 75 percent of our meat the first year. I have learned or relearned so much from Sarah being the primary cook and gardener. I also have remember some of my basic building skills from kevin. Thank you for all your teaching skills

My husband and I started to ship away with each credit card and then always pay them off every month no credit debt. Payed off vehicle loans early and always kept cars for as long as we could, paid of mortgage years before retiring all ducks in a row for retirement. Great visual which in my opinion a plus and the incentive to keep on trucking. Agree the simple life.

You work because you are on the same page and have lots of love and respect for each other. Plus you are pretty darn cute too!

This is amazing !! Such an accomplishment for your entire family!

I was sitting here listening to your story about how you became debt free, and was just waiting to see if you were going to mention Dave Ramsey, and BAM!! So glad to hear that you did. We went through Dave’s class through our church last year. Great tool

Good for you guys for achieving debt free living! God bless! 💜

I love both of your Channels. I look daily for your videos, and I have learned so much from both of you. Thanks for sharing all that you both do. Bless both channels abundantly , Lord.

This is sooooo cool!!! I love being debt free :)))) Congratulations on becoming debt free!!!!

Beautiful way of living God Bless you Both & your precious daughters

Thank you ! Love y'all and your videos!

Thanks for another great video. Can’t wait to be debt free. You guys are such an inspiration. God bless!!!!!

Wow! I enjoyed this video very much. We are also debt free and many of the things you mentioned I can relate to. God bless!

I love the paper chain.

Thank you soooo much...this was AWESOME!!!

Another great video. Years ago, we paid our mortgage off 11 years early and have remained debt free. Best way to live!

God bless both of you for sharing good thoughts being debt free is fun . Keep up the good works.

now we know how come Willie,Waylon and the boys went back to Lukenbach, Texas!! Love Heidi and Rain Country!!

Nice informative video. I went from city life to mountain life back in the late 1990's and it was a transition, but now I look back and wish I had all that money back!

I just found this video. I am in Missouri too, and moved here for the same reason. I have less than $6000 left to pay on the house.

You are the best, Thank you!

Wow, a 5K contest. A lot has changed over 4 years. Congratulations on your channel. I love it.

Love your story and the videos thanks for sharing God Bless

My husband and I love Dave Ramsey and have been following him for a little while now! I love his saying “live like no one is living, so later you can live like no one is living!” Thinking about being debt free is so exciting to us!

Nothing is as sweet as financial independence! I've been debt free for years and even though my income was always middle class, my goal was to live on only a fraction of my take home pay. I saved the rest. While others did vacations, I found ways to be happy doing other things. I lived for the long haul -- with a "work hard now and I will reap the rewards later" attitude. Good, solid used cars that I could easily drive 16 years (I'm close to work) Seldom eat out -- but knowing I could afford to if I wanted to made a huge difference for me. Cable wasn't necessary because I know what rabbit ears are :-) . I have a nice phone -- but no need to constantly upgrade even when people laugh at me because my iphone is several generations old. In the end, the last laugh is mine (a laugh in secret) because eventually I learned how much debt those who were laughing at me really had. Once the house is paid off, it is still surprises me how quickly money accumulates. For me being frugal isn't shopping yard sales when you don't NEED something. It is buying quality items I need and then taking care of them. I think many people feel the pressure of those around them -- some people just want others in as much debt as they're in. I've kept my eye on the prize and it paid off. I could go on -- but won't. Nothing is as sweet as financial independence! Great video. Paper chain is a great visual for adults and children. (Added note: I got the impression from a video I saw recently about your rabbits -- that you found them a frugal way to start and now that you're more established you're moving to your higher preferences of meat. My point here, is this is another decision that may not be apparent that you made. I was lucky to have one parent model frugality; the other did not. I see this as a parent's job, not the schools. I encourage you to speak openly about your frugal decisions as a way of helping those who didn't have the modeling as kids.

Dave Ramsey type of life. Congrats. I have been frugal my entire life and now have a decent retirement. Despite a divorce.

Living below your means is the key! I'm so old now, 66, that if I can't eat it, or use it up, I don't buy it! Love your vdos!

Great tips for frugal living. I've recently been diagnosed with several autoimmune diseases and had to stop working which really hurt since I owned my own company. I wasn't set up for stopping working so I'm living a nightmare of some debt. Your tips help refresh my memory cuz I've never been rich but I also watch because I learn from you and learn different ways to save money and do more from scratch cooking. You really do Inspire us out here or at least me! I love the idea of the Rings you had for your thousands of dollars of the mortgage and being able to take them off as you pay them. Way to go and I'm glad somebody did well on the market changing and it helped you buy your freedom. You work very hard for what you have and the lifestyle seems to bless you both!

Lol...you two are adorable. That couch is something else! It’s so deep that Kevin has to raise his Right arm up to rest on the arm of the chair! That’s one deep couch....love the color

I enjoy listening to you two ... I have a small bit of property. I am in Florida. I gleam some great ideas from your videos ...love your hoop coops

Thank you so much. It's been wonderful watching you grow.

Great video on living debt free. And a 5000 subscriber contest. Seeing your 367K subscribers now, that's amazing.

Yay! For Dave Ramsey :) Love to watch your channel.

Thank you for sharing your story! I also followed Dave Ramseys' program and am almost there! It is a sacrifice as you said, but the results are so worth it!. I have learned so much from your videos...thank you for the effort and work put in.. I use to live in Joplin and have friends in Springfield as well so maybe our paths will cross one day.. would love to meet you guys in person! Thanks again for all you do!

Just amazing you guys. Perhaps there is another way to love life.

Thank you.

You guys did it the right ways! Hard work, sacrifice, frugal living and a deep and abiding faith in God. There is just no other way to true success. Congratulations!

That is so great that your food needs can mostly be met on your homestead. We put everything we could to pay off our mortgage, which we did before we retired, which was about two years ago. Great video. Hugs❤️

Your family is such an inspiration!!! My family will hopefully be debt free by may of this year we have worked hard and sacrificed a lot to get to this point but as each debt has been paid off the burden gets a little lighter! Keep up the good work!!! Lots of love and prayers for you all!!! And as a side note Kevin there are lots of other cheeper motorcycle brands out there and the thrill of the freedom is the same in the back of a cheap one as it is on the back of a Harley! 😀

Hi, Kevin and Sarah. I love this story. I'm enrolled in Dave Ramsey's FPU class which will start next month (Sept) for me. I'm divorced with a mortgage, some CC debt, a paid off 11 year old car, and 3 mouths to feed (3 dogs). Wish me luck!

HalleluYah. Shalom and Blessings. I appreciate your channel and this story. We are trying to pay off debt and buy a homestead. Cars are paid off and most other bills. I love the chain idea. Debt does feel like a chain.

I can’t imagine going back to mortgage and car payments. Living paycheck to paycheck was terrible. I feel sorry for those that do. Love Dave Ramsey, but my dad taught me to continue to put payments in the bank account after the bill was paid so that the next time I could pay cash. Been debt free 10 years more or less and now retired with limited funds and so greatful. You are so smart love you guys.

Practical useful truth. Blessings.

Congratulations !

Very good information. Love u guys. Keep on the firing line.God bless.

What a fabulous idea. (The chain).

Fantastic info! We drove a 2001 Impala until last year, then gave it to our son who is still driving it. That was one thing we loved about living in MO was the low taxes! Here in IL the taxes are very high and we really regret selling our place in MO back in 2000. But my husband had employment here. So now we are looking again in MO and hope to move back someday.

love your story

Great video, it was so good to hear how you stay debt free and be able to say, yes we do that, oh we do that too! I will make a video later in the week.

Great story! I just saw Rain Country's video collab.

Eat it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without. Nice work!

Congrats on 5K. I just subscribed also. Looking forward to hearing more about your journey on your homestead. - All the best. ~ Theresa

We have finally got to the last page of this chapter. We accepted an offer on the house last week. We are SO looking forward to starting the next chapter. Working on becoming debt free. Thanks for sharing

You guys are awesome!

gotta love Dave : ) Teaching us all how to use money as The Lord intended

I would love to see some of your daughters wood burning art. If she will share :)

Awesome!!! Just found ya through the collab! Love you channel! Hope y'all have a great day~TexasMom

I love this! I've been debt free for 10 years! Got a hold of Dave Ramsey in 2005 and I've never looked back.....btw I love your jalapeño pickled eggs! My first batch is already gone! My hubby liked them better than his pickled quail eggs. I should make videos! I've been "farmsteading" for years and I do still have my corp job! It's hard but we live a cheap life which makes it possible to do it all!

I live in the Phoenix area, I just wanted to share with you we bought 5 ac in Pearce, Az which is Cochise County already off grid approved. Very low tax. We are building out off grid camp (we call it) at this time. The home comes later. We still have put house in actually Santan Valley, but hope the market goes back up in the next few years when we will sell and build our main house at the property. Just wanted to share it is possible here in Arizona too. I find it a very exciting process. I love see the progress every week. I follow you guys and appreciate all of your information. I enjoy you wish we had met here in Arizona. 😊 See you on Facebook. Keep it coming. You explain everything in depth. 👍

Awesome story!!!!

what a great story

We grow so much food(65-85%)..we feed US and our gkids many days a week......adult kiddos and their spouses...we can,dehydrate,and I purchase canned fruits..because my trees are young.... ...great video..thanks for the colab... We hope to readd..milk goats(?) And a pig..🥓..with in a year.....

Great video. I will be moving in two months to a tiny home. Right now i have moved everything i am taking with me into the living room. The rest is for sale in the other rooms and I am slowly selling stuff off. I can't wait until I don't have to worry anymore. I am paying for my daughters college as we go. I don't want a loan once she is done. So that is really draining me right now but I know in the end it will be worth the sacrifices just like you said. I am down to the bare nothings and I am so ok with that. Just love watching you guys and I am getting my daughter into watching you as well. When she is home for college she asked "so what is new with Sarah and Kevin?" I love it. God bless.

I’m a single women. God didn’t bless me to have children. I always new id have to take care of myself. So...I paid cash for my cars because the insurance is a car payment! The other stuff was simple for me being alone. Nobody else to argue with. Unbelievable how you did it with children. The #1 thing is...a partner who thinks the same way you do and the vision you both see for yourselves

That is such fantastic advice ☺️

I love the chain idea

LOVE this!

We are working hard to pay off debt, but our log cabin home of our dreams - built by my husband and 4 very good friends 18 years ago - is something we cannot part with. We have 18 years (we last refinanced to 25 years in 2012) left at $1360/month which includes property and school taxes. Rent here most places in upstate northeast NY is not that cheap. $1,600 for a 2 bedroom apartment plus utilities. And most wont accept pets. My husband is working toward a retirement pension and we really can’t leave the area. We’ve made some HORRIBLE financial mistakes: a refi to send our son to college as neither of us ever had that chance; one even involving closing out a 401k (complete with 5 years of state and government penalties) to try and help my only sibling I idolized at the time out of a stupidly idiotic (found out after several months) life mistake. I just can’t see an end in site is my issue. Sometimes I am so very depressed about it. I left a well paying job in December 2014 and spent 8 months housebound in deep depression before rejoining the work force. I found another office job, part time, and at half the pay that it had taken me 31-1/2 years to earn. I suffer from severe asthma so I am limited in jobs and duration I can perform. I struggle most days with my horse and chicken chores. My horse is older and suffers her own health issues and is really not sell-able, and I really don’t want to part with her after 21 years. I really could use some uplifting in prayer and guidance. I love watching you guys, thank you. God bless you for all you do, and Merry Christmas.

Thanks ...

Thank you for sharing your story. Jim and I are in the process of becoming completely debt-free. We have been given the opportunity to house sit for a year starting in January and that will complete us being debt-free and allows to put together money to purchase a small Homestead.

Dave Ramsey's financial peace class really helped me to become debt free and I pray I stay that way. Our Church offers the class at least once or twice a year, good stuff! Thanks for sharing, really impressed with what you are doing. I was going to ask about the bike because I have seen Kevin's t- shirts in other videos, I was curious if he rode. I recently got a Heritage Softail and joined the motorcycle ministry at my Church. I get to ride AND share the Gospel and hang out with a great group of folks. I pray for God's continued blessings for your family.

We are still not debt free, but my husband welded a box to the back of our wood burner to heat our water. Worked like a charm, but had to regulate hot water usage

great advice and information on living debt free

great video guys. thanks

First time here... You are amazing

Here because of 1000 roots. Interesting story from you.

I love the chain idea!

Yes Dave Ramsey, I am familiar with the plan

blessed

Quit chasing the "Jones" years ago and have enjoyed debt free living for years...quite liberating! On another note-when will we see someone play those guitars??

Great video!!!!!!

Such a great story! Thanks for sharing your journey and wisdom. Less is more, in so many ways. More time for the things that really matter in life. We "eat out" (snacks from the store) at Mama Jeans in Springfield about 6 times a year. You guys are so inspiring. Keep sharing your story. Maybe we'll put together a video for the collaboration sharing our story. Blessings from the Smyth family.

I KNEW You Guys Were Ramsey Folks😍 So Are We!!

Great video. Starting our journey

This is so motivating!! I love it. We (my husband and I) were just talking about becoming debt free. It’s so hard when your sucked in to all the mumbo jumbo of tv and cell phones and wanting the best of the best when in reality We just want to be happy. We live in Oregon and it’s so expensive. My daughter lives in Missouri and I have been wanting to move out there since she left. I’m rambling on anyways thank you for the reality check and I hope to meet you one day :) take care 🙏🏼😊

We are trying to get all loans down it so hard right now . Yes we don’t go out to eat all food made fresh homemade here